Searching For Her Smile
by DarkBalance
Summary: Ruki is such a pretty girl. She just never smiles. {a collection of drabbles wherein Daisuke tries to make Ruki smile} \\ PREVIOUSLY: Daisuke totally has tons of friends in class. Ruki doesn't. NOW: A boy, a frog, and a smile. Challenge Accepted.
1. Preface

To one seven-year-old Motomiya Daisuke, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen She was taller than he, but at that age, what girl was not? Her eyes reminded him of those tiny, dainty little flowers that grew in the grass, the ones no bigger than his little thumbnail. Her hair shimmered like a roarling blaze in the sunlight. Her face was delicate.

But she never smiled.

Daisuke hated that. She was such a pretty girl! Why couldn't she smile?

Daisuke could almost imagine it: her pouting lips will curve into an adorable crescent and her lavender eyes will light up with a subtle spark. Or maybe those white teeth will be visible as she grinned widely, the corners of her eyes crinkling cutely, her irises dancing with amusement.

Of course, no amount of imagination could compare to the real thing. Therefore, Motomiya Daisuke made it his goal to make Makino Ruki smile.


	2. Pocky

He approahed her with butterflies in his stomach. Not just any butterflies either, but huge beasts who crash, colliding into one another - and the walls of his - stomach roughly. Daisuke swallowed, pushing the feeling aside aside before he approached her, sitting alone before he approached her, sitting alone beside a table full of giggling girls.

"R-R... Ruki-chan?" Daisuke stuttered, but remained where he stood. Ruki-chan glanced up at him, that same less-than-pleased upon her face.

"What?" she demanded. "Or are you just gonna stand there staring at me?"

Daisuke winced. "I- I got these for you, yesterday." Ignoring his stutter, Daisuke held out the brightly colored box of pocky to his classmate, a small, shy smile tugging at his lips. The threat was one of his favorites, and he knew a lot of his classmates enjoyed it too. Ruki-chan never seemed to bring any sweets in her lunch. Surely she would be grateful for his gift!

"I don't _like_ the chocolate ones."

"Wah! You don't?!" Daisuke gasped at her. "But I thought all girls like chocolate?"

"Well _I_ don't. Not chocolate pocky anyway."

"But I... I bought them for you..." whimpered Daisuke.

"Hmph. Well I'm not gonna eat them." With a snort, Ruki-chan turned back to her lunch, and Daisuke returned to his table, rejected. A friend pat him on the back while one of the giggling girls called out to him.

"Better luck next time, Dai-chan!"


	3. Roses

They were really pretty and really big and really bright and when Daisuke saw them, he smiled really huge because he really, really liked them. He was walking to school with his big sister, Jun. She was annoying sometimes and mean to him most of the time, but she did help him when she wanted to. So when Daisuke asked her to grab a flower for him, Jun only gave her little brother a _little_ bit of a hard time. Apparently the really pretty, really big flowers were called roses.

"Do they make girls smile?" that question brought a strange smile to Jun's face, but Daisuke ignored it, his grin growing even larger when she nodded and told him happily, "yes!" Jun broke three roses from the bush and carefully removed the sharp thorns, swearing every so often. Daisuke had long since learned to ignore when his big sister swore, as well as not to repeat the words around their parents.

At school, Daisuke presented the three bright pink, thornless roses to Ruki-chan, feeling really proud of himself. She didn't like his last gift, but this one should be good, right? Jun said that flowers - _roses_ - made girls happy and as much as Daisuke hated to admit it, Jun was normally right, when it mattered anyway.

"I saw these this morning and I thought about you, Ruki-chan!" a group of nearby girls heard this and giggled, whispering. Daisuke ignored them. Girls were strange sometimes.

"Ruki-chan," one of them called. "Daisuke-kun got you _roses!"_

"Ooh, maybe he _likes _you!" another sang. Daisuke blushed, still holding the flowers. He didn't _like_ Ruki-chan! He just wanted her to smile for once.

"B-but I -" Daisuke started but was cut off.

"No, he _doesn't,_" Ruki-chan glared at the flowers then snatched them from Daisuke's grip, throwing them on the ground. "And I don't do pink."

For once in Daisuke's life, Jun was wrong.


	4. Pairs

They were told to pair up in class for an assignment. All around Daisuke, kids called one annothers' names, grinning aout being chosen or getting to group with their friends. Daisuke had losts of friends in class, or so he thought; only _one_ person asked to work with him! Sheesh, they should be _lining_ up to partner with him! Then again, Daisuke was rather awesome, so he could understand if they were intimidated.

All of that was besides the point though, they would have been turned down because Daisuke had his eyes on the one girl who did not have a partner. Ruki-chan _always_ worked alone, even when Sensei said they could work with their friends. Did Ruki-chan have friends? it would explain why she always seemed so... not-happy, because Ruki-can was not sad. Angry, maybe, but not sad.

"Ruki-chan!" Daisuke ignroed the giggles that followed him. "Do you want to be partners?"

"No."

"But Sensei said - "

"I don't need you. I can do the work myself."

"But classwork is always more fun with your friends!"

"I don't _have_ friends." So Daisuke had been right, Ruki-chan didn't have any friends. The thought made him sad.

"Well hey, I can totally be your friend!"

_"I. Don't. Want. Friends."_

"Oh." That made him feel even worse.

"_Goodbye_ Motomiya."

Daisuke walked away with a new weight in his heart, barely acknowledging the friend who did want to work with him. He didn't smile for the rest of the day.


	5. Umbrella

It was raining today. Rainy days always made Daisuke a bit sad. It meant that he couldn't go outside. He sighed, watching the depressingly gray, almost black clouds, then glanced down to the splashing puddles. A flash of color caught his eye, golden red hair tied into pigtails.

Ruki stood at the edge of the genkan. She too watched the rain, a different scowl on her face than the one Daisuke had grown accustomed to.

"Ruki-chan?" he tried. He was used to her yelling at him by now, but it still made him a bit nervous. Or maybe that was _why_ he was so nervous? Why his heart semed to beat just a _little_ bit faster when he saw her? Because he was just the _tiniest_ bit afraid of Ruki-chan?

"What do you want now?" Ruki did not look at him.

"I just," Daisuke caught himself before he could stutter like usual, "wanted to know what was wrong? You look sad and I wanted to help..."

"Can you stop the rain?"

"No."

"Then no, you can't help." Daisuke stood there for another moment watching her. Why couldn't he ever make her happy? Why was she always so mad at him? "Bakka, stop staring at me and go home."

"Where's your umberella?" Daisuke wondered idly. "Or your mom?"

"I... forgot my umberella at home." Daisuke thought for a second. If he ran, he could catch up to Jun and share her umberella, if she was in a nice mood anyway.

"Here, use mine," Daisuke held his umberella to Ruki. "I don't need it. I live close." Ruki glared at the object in his hands for a moment, but in the end snatched it up and left. And as Daisuke ran home, he grinned; Ruki told him _arigatou._


	6. Frog

_None of you stupid boys will ever catch a frog!_

When Sensei let the class explore the national park on their own, Daisuke ran for the lake edge to prove Ruki-chan wrong. She didn't believe he or any of the other boys in class could find a frog, so he'll just show her. And imagine, when Daisuke really _did_ manage to find the frog and show it to her and _prove_ that he could catch one, she'll have to be happy. She'll have to smile and be pleased.

Daisuke wondered if maybe Ruki-chan had tried to catch a frog herself one time and couldn't do it? If Daisuke managed to find one she'll _definitely_ have to smile!

While he searched, Daisuke found it hard to see through the muddy water sometimes, but he had good, sharp eyes. In the end, Daisuke found the dark, slimy creature, coated in mud and hidden among the tall grass at the water's edge.

"Ruki-chan," Daisuke called, reaching into the water. "I found one, I found a fro - oh!" Just as he closed his hands around the frog, Daisuke fell face-forward into the lake, luckily with the frog still clasped in his hands. Turning over so that he lay on his back, Daisuke blinked up at Ruki-chan's surprised face. He lifted his arms to present her with his prize.

"See?" he grinned, ignoring the taste of mud and lake water.

"I see you look disgusting, Motomiya," Ruki crossed her arms.

"But I caught you a frog." Ruki started at Daisuke for a long moment before turning away in a huff.

"Frogs are disgusting too."

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